Report to: General Committee Date Report Authored: February 23, 2011
SUBJECT: Delegation of Authority
for Protection of Intellectual Property
PREPARED
BY: Dennis Flaherty, 7520
RECOMMENDATION:
1)
That
the Chief Administrative Officer be delegated authority to approve and (in
consultation with the Town Solicitor) apply for trade-mark, official mark,
copyright, domain name or similar registration (as applicable) in respect of
any corporate identifiers, words, tag lines, designs or other marks used in
connection with the Town of Markham’s operations, services, programs, projects,
publications, website, or other initiatives (collectively “Corporate
Identifiers”); and,
2)
That
the Chief Administrative Officer, or designate, be authorized and directed to
do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution, including, without
limitation, the execution of application forms or other applicable
documentation.
PURPOSE:
To
delegate authority to the Chief Administrative Officer to approve and (in
consultation with the Town Solicitor) apply for trade-mark, official mark,
copyright, domain name or similar registration (as applicable) in respect of
any Town of Markham Corporate Identifiers.
BACKGROUND:
The
Town of Markham currently uses a number of Corporate Identifiers (e.g., -Markham Life, Greenprint, Zero Waste, Access
Markham),. These Corporate Identifiers (as well as Corporate Identifiers that
will be developed in respect of future initiatives) may represent important and
strategic forms of intellectual property to the Town of Markham.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
1.
Trade-mark, official mark, copyright and
domain name registrations are relatively simple, inexpensive processes which
can be used to protect the intellectual property rights associated with Town of
Markham Corporate Identifiers. The
commercial value of these forms of intellectual property may be undermined if
not protected from use by external agencies, organizations or individuals.
2.
In
the absence of registration, these Corporate Identifiers could be used, and the
associated intellectual property rights subsequently acquired, by external
parties through registration.
3.
Timing
is of the essence for trade-mark, official mark, copyright, and domain name
registration, as priority is key in determining legal rights of use, and the
registration date signifies the date from which all of the benefits inherent to
a trade-mark, official mark, copyright or domain name registration begin. Registration delays or public reference to a
proposed, new Corporate Identifier (with strategic value) may result in the
intellectual property rights (and strategic value) associated with the Corporate
Identifier being lost to external parties.
4.
If
the intellectual property rights associated with Town of Markham Corporate
Identifiers are lost to external parties there may be a potential loss of
commercial value in the associated initiatives, including the brand equity established through use and
application by the Town of Markham.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE:
There
will be charges for the application and registration of trade-marks, official
marks, copyrights and domain names. These costs will be absorbed by the
requesting department.
Sample Costs
Domain Name
Registration – $200 per domain name
Official
Mark Registration - $500 (if done with internal resources)
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS
None
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
Aligns
with Markham’s branding and promotion of key initiatives supporting the
Building Markham’s Future Together strategic plan and the six strategic
priorities.
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Office
of the CAO, Legal Department, Legislative Services, and the Commissioner of
Corporate Services were consulted in the development of this report
RECOMMENDED:
